Back then filmmakers could film anything and it would rent

Back in the 80s the VCR and the VHS movies were the hot item to have. In the late 80s the price of VCRs dropped tremendously. VHS movies could be rented for $2 to $3 a night rather than being purchased for $50 or more. It was something like a entertainment revolution that the later successful dvd capitalized upon. This was the age of cheap, film-watching entertainment that didn't require driving to the movies.

Hollywood was quick to pick up on the near-infinite possibilities and the big bucks profits waiting to be harvested. People would go out and rent just about anything and I mean anything. It didn't matter how crappy or cheesy or low budget or ridiculous. The trick was in the artwork on the VHS box. All a film producer needed to do was commission some interesting and lurid VHS box art graphics and photos, usually involving lots of violence and nudity and the promise of sex, good, bad, and ugly. The low-budget movie made a bigtime comeback with the VCR and VHS cassette. Many, many movies were produced, direct-to-video. Believe it or not, a lot of these movies were well-made and critics liked them. But of course for every successful, direct-to-video VHS movie, there were a dozen fair to marginals. The dvd movie revolution still follows this tradition.